The present invention relates to the manufacture of thermoformed articles such as children's toys, and more particularly to the method of making such thermoformed articles in multicolored configurations of various types and the articles formed thereby.
Thermoforming of synthetic resinous sheet material is widely employed in the manufacture various types of children's toys such as swimming pools, sleds, sandboxes, toboggans and the like as well as in the manufacture of various industrial articles, packaging and vehicle components. Various techniques have been proposed to provide multicolored and diverse configurations for such thermoformed articles including techniques of dying, painting or otherwise applying a differential color coating to the surface of the thermoformed product.
In some instances it has been proposed to utilize adhesively applied laminated films and sheeting to effect multicolored patterns for the thermoformed article. Moreover, some multicolored articles have utilized polychromic extrusions for the sheet material which is thermoformed. However, some of the above techniques have involved limitations as to the configuration or depth of the multicolored component within the overall configuration of the thermoformed article, others have provided a relatively thin surface coating upon the article which might be readily abradable so as to become unsightly after a relatively short period of time; wear-resistant laminates have been relative costly.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and highly effective method for producing a multicolored thermoformed article wherein a differentially colored component of relatively smaller size is separately formed and readily bonded to the body of the thermoformed article to provide a highly attractive, durable product.
It is also an object to provide such a method wherein a plurality of preformed insert elements of differentially colored thermoplastic material may be bonded to a body element of the ultimate article in the thermoforming step utilized to fabricate the same.
Another object is to provide a unitary multicolored thermoplastic article which includes a body element and an insert element on one surface thereof which is bonded thereto to provide a unitary structure and which provides a multicolored component with respect to the surrounding body.
Still another object is to provide such an article in which two or more such differentially colored inserts are provided and bonded at spaced points to the body member.